


The Heart to my Soul

by Viktoryus



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, F/F, First Meetings, Meet-Cute, Video & Computer Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:26:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26215609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viktoryus/pseuds/Viktoryus
Summary: Henry has been wanting a very specific birthday gift and finally convinces his mom to get it for him just to have the game store ship him the wrong version of the game. When Regina and Henry are told that there are no more copies of the game that he's wanting, they luckily run into a stranger that can help.The last thing in the world that Emma is expecting is to bond with a young boy over a video game, but she finds that Henry is not only just a great gaming buddy, but that they might have more in common than she thought. And it definitely doesn't hurt that his mother is gorgeous and just as much fun to be around.One-shot Swanqueen
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Henry Mills, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Henry Mills & Emma Swan
Comments: 18
Kudos: 124
Collections: Swan Queen Supernova V: Forever Starstruck





	The Heart to my Soul

Regina smiles as she watches Henry tear away at the parcel that had been dropped off at their doorstep just a few minutes ago. The only thing he wanted for his birthday this year was for her to preorder this very specific version of a video game that he’s been waiting patiently all summer for.  _ Firelight: Soul _ . Two versions of this game are being released: one with a female protagonist and the other with a male. The storylines would be similar; but, only when played together on the online game server would they be able to unlock very special parts of the story. Henry’s best friend and gaming buddy, Gabriella, had already received her copy of  _ Firelight: Heart _ earlier that day and since then, has been checking with Henry every ten minutes for the arrival of his copy.

Normally, Regina would not condone video games of this nature. When Henry told her that the main objective of the game was to slash and kill zombies, she had initially told him that there was no way that she would purchase it for him. After weeks of pleading and convincing, she eventually gave in. He had taken on extra chores, and even forfeited his annual birthday party just so he could persuade her to get him the game. In the end, she just could not find it in her heart to deny him.

"Mom! This isn't the right one!" Henry shouts as he allows the torn and empty corrugated shipping box to fall to the ground. “They’ve sent the other one.” 

“What? What do you mean they’ve sent the _ other _ one?” Regina asks him as she tries to piece together what it is that has suddenly put the dispirited frown upon Henry’s face. As she reaches over for the game, she realizes that the character art on the game box is clearly of a female lead and she sighs. “Darling, didn’t you already mention that it would be the same game play regardless of which character you’re playing? Does it really matter that the hero is a girl? Girls can kill zombies, too.”

“MOM!” Henry calls out defensively. “UGH. I don’t care that she’s a girl. I know that girls can kill zombies too. But, Gabby has this one, and I am supposed to have the other one so that we can play together and unlock all the secrets...” He trails off as he tries to sound as grown up as he can given the amount of disappointment that he’s currently feeling. He knows that it isn’t his mother’s fault that the game shop sent him the wrong game. There was no use trying to make her feel badly about the mistake.

Regina is at a loss for words. Her son was never one to have many friends, and Gabriella is one of the few people his age that has been able to see past his timid and quiet nature. While Regina will never be able to understand their fascination with the comic books or the video games, she knows how much this really means to Henry. “Alright, Darling. Well, let’s take a trip to the game shop and get this worked out, shall we?” And when she sees the way his face lights up at her suggestion, she knows that it was the perfect thing to say.

***

Emma is looking through the used game bin at her favorite gaming shop when she hears a woman raising her voice at the store clerk over by the checkout counter. She turns towards the direction of the commotion, but tries not to seem too invested in the conversation. 

“But we were sent the incorrect copy of the game. Surely there is  _ something _ you can do to fix this.” Regina is seething but manages to stay composed as not only her son, but also a roomful of other children seem to be focused on her current confrontation with the store clerk. “We would merely just like to exchange it for the correct one.”

“And…and I understand that, ma’am.” The unassertive clerk replies with a stutter. “But we don’t actually have any more copies of  _ Firelight: Soul  _ at this location. The closest store that you will be able to find the game is nearly four hundred miles away. We can get it transferred over, and you can pick it up in three days…” 

“Three days?! That’s unacceptable. We pre-ordered this game! And I know that you’re lying to me because I see a copy right there.” Regina argues as she points to one of the games that are casually laying on the back counter, just a few feet away from where she is standing. “That looks like the correct copy.”

The young man’s eyes go wide as he turns and focuses on the game that Regina is pointing at. When he reaches for it, he realizes that it’s actually a copy that has already been pre-purchased for in-store pickup. “Uh... ma’am, this one is already spoken for.” He says quietly and with as much confidence as he can muster, hoping that it does not make the woman more angry than she already seems to be. “Someone is supposed to come by to pick this one up today.”

Regina is about to argue again when she feels Henry pulling gently at her arm. She turns towards her son and crouches down so that she can speak to him face to face. “Darling--”

“It’s fine, Momma. I’ll just play this one. Gabby will understand…” 

Regina frowns at this because she cannot ignore the tugging sensation in her chest. “I’m so sorry, Henry. Why don’t you look around to see if there is anything else that you might want to play. It can be a second part to your birthday present.” 

Henry smiles shyly at his mother. “Really?” 

“Yes, of course, baby. Let’s look around and pick something out.” Regina confirms, slowly feeling like she can breathe easily again. Disappointing a child is not something one would find a chapter about in the parenting handbook and she still finds that it’s one of the most difficult things she’s ever had to face. As she grabs Henry’s hand to walk further into the game store for him to look around, she feels a tap on her shoulder, and turns to see a blonde woman smiling nervously at her.

“Hi. Um… so, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation and um…” Emma pauses as she looks over at the clerk, making eye contact with the young man so that she’s sure she has his attention as well. “That reserved copy of  _ Firelight: Soul  _ is mine. I mean, I’m actually here to pick it up…”

Regina raises an eyebrow at the stranger because she’s not exactly sure where this conversation is headed.  _ Was the woman gloating?  _ Without meaning to, she squeezes Henry’s hand and starts backing away from the woman.

Emma senses the woman’s apprehension and mentally scolds herself for not getting to her point sooner. “Ugh. I’m sorry. What I mean to say, and I’m obviously making a mess of it, is that I don’t mind trading it with you…”

“Really?!” Henry squeals before his mother can respond and he’s already turning to look up at her for her approval. “Momma, can we?”

Regina looks closely at the blonde, studying her features as she tries to gauge the sincerity of her offer, and then slowly back down at her son. Henry is smiling widely at her and she sighs audibly before looking back over at the woman who has already walked up to the checkout counter and is handing the clerk her payment for the game. 

As soon as the transaction is complete and Emma has the game in her hand, she steps away from the counter and walks back to where the little boy and his mother are still standing, still looking over at her. “It’s yours if you want it.” She says with a smile reaching it out for the brunette to take. When she senses her hesitance she pulls her hand back hoping that she hasn’t overstepped in some way. She looks at the little boy again who is now looking between her and his mother and guilt washes over her as she realizes that she’s somehow instilled hope into his mind without any thought as to what his mother’s reaction to her generosity might be. Her sudden panic is subdued when the woman speaks again.

“If that is truly alright with you, I’d be willing to offer any necessary compensation…” Regina says earnestly. The last thing she was expecting was to show up at the game shop just to disappoint Henry for a second time that day, let alone a third if she were to turn down the stranger’s kind offer. 

“There’s no compensation necessary. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter to me which game I get to play. I picked this one because of the artwork on the case. For some reason, they always have the better artwork for the guy characters.” She says playfully, more to the boy than to his mother, and it elicits a small smile from him. “Here you go, little man.” She adds as she crouches down and hands the game to him. “It’s all yours.” 

Henry takes the copy of  _ Firelight: Soul  _ with both hands and looks up at his mother. “Momma, is it really okay?”

Regina confirms with a nod, smiles at her son and watches as he hugs the game to his chest before pulling it away again to stare lovingly at the box. She chuckles and then turns her attention back to the woman who’s graciously, and unknowingly, saved her son’s birthday. “You have no idea how happy you’ve just made him. Thank you. Truly.” She smiles as she hands the woman their copy of the game that she realizes she’s still holding on to. 

Emma returns the smile easily and takes the game, slipping it into the tote bag that she has slung over her shoulder. She didn’t notice at first, but looking at the woman now, she sees how extremely beautiful she is. “It’s really no big deal. I really don’t know anyone else who will be playing so I can’t unlock any of the good stuff anyway.” 

“I can play with you!” Henry says excitedly. “My best friend Gabby and I are playing together, but I can play with you, too!”

Emma looks over at the young boy’s mother again, trying to hide her amusement from the horrified expression on the woman’s face. If she were to guess, she’d say that the boy isn’t more than ten or eleven years old, and surely his mother wouldn’t want him playing games with a random woman they just met in the game shop. She is just about to decline the boy’s offer when he starts speaking to her again.

“Add me as a friend!” Henry says. “I’m Prince Henry the first. No spaces, and the number one with ‘s’ and ‘t’ for ‘first’.” 

“Henry.” Regina says sternly before making eye contact with the blonde woman again, silently hoping for some help to get them out of their obvious predicament. “I don’t think...”

Emma senses the woman's loss for the correct words and smiles meekly at her before crouching down again so that she can talk to the boy face to face. “Prince Henry, eh?” She says with a smirk and it makes the boy smile proudly back at her. “Look, that’s really nice of you to invite me to play with you, Henry, but you should always ask your mom for her permission before you give strangers your gamer tag, alright? It’s just like giving away your phone number or your home address. You wouldn't give those to strangers, right?”

Henry looks up at his mother, then back at the blonde and shakes his head. “I should only tell that to police officers if I’m lost or need help.” 

“That’s right. And talking to strangers in video games is just as dangerous as talking to strangers without your mom or dad around. You wouldn’t want to worry them.”

Henry nods and looks up at his mother again. “I’m sorry, Momma.”

Regina smiles at Henry and then at the woman, feeling very grateful for her aid for the second time this evening. “That’s okay, baby.”

“Can I please play with--” And that’s when Henry suddenly realizes that there is an easy solution to his problem, so he turns to the blonde again and smiles brilliantly at her. “What’s your name?” He asks as he eagerly awaits an answer. 

“Uh…” Emma stammers as she is caught off her guard by the young boy's question. “Um, my name is Emma…” 

“Mom, can I please play  _ Firelight _ with Emma. Now that we know each other, she’s not really a stranger, right?” Henry asks with his most hopeful expression. 

Emma laughs as she stands back up. “You must seriously have your hands full with that one.” She says softly to the woman.

Regina chuckles in response. “Oh, you have no idea.” She considers everything for a moment. Their entire encounter with Emma has been one surprise after another, and although it seems quite unorthodox to allow her son to make a new friend that is nowhere within his own age group, she finds herself strangely drawn to the woman, if not by her beauty, certainly by her kindness. “I would love for Henry to have a new friend to play his game with if you happen to have free time.” 

Emma’s eyes widen in surprise as she isn’t exactly expecting that the woman would concede so easily to her son. “Oh! Okay. I mean, yeah, that sounds like fun. And actually, all my contact info is on the sticker label that they put on the front of that game since I pre-ordered it for pickup. My phone number, my billing address, my email, all of it.” She knows that she’s nervously rambling again and before she can make a bigger fool of herself she turns her attention back to Henry. “You can find me on the server with my email address. My gamer tag is The Ugly Duckling, no spaces…”

Henry scrunches his face in distaste. “That’s a weird name.” He states candidly.

“Henry!” Regina scolds and Heny frowns apologetically at both of the women.

“Well, my last name is Swan so I thought it was fitting…” Emma adds as she rubs the back of her neck trying to hide her sudden embarrassment, and when the look of confusion doesn’t seem to leave Henry’s little face even after her explanation, she decides that it is probably time to call it a night. “Anyway, I should head home… I do really hope that you enjoy the game, Henry.”

“Oh! We’re so sorry for keeping you. And thank you, again. We do appreciate you trading your copy of the game with us. Right, Henry?” Regina says as she reaches for Henry’s hand again, giving it a squeeze.

“Yes.” Henry adds with a small nod. “Thank you, Emma.”

“Well, you’re very welcome. And like I said before, it’s really no big deal. So, I’ll see you online some time, okay?” 

“Yeah!” Henry answers with a big grin.

Emma smiles again at Henry’s nod of agreement before waving goodbye and then promptly turning and walking towards the entrance of the shop. Once she is in the car and nearly home, she realizes that she never asked Henry’s mom for her name. She sighs but shrugs it off because she knows that despite the nice conversation she had with the pair, her expectations that she will speak to either of them again are realistically low. But, that doesn’t seem to stop her from smiling to herself at the fact that all it took was one simple gesture to make two people’s night a better one

***

Emma has been so busy with taking back-to-school photos in the last month that she hasn’t had a full day off in nearly two weeks. Being her own boss certainly has its privileges, but it also means that when it’s actually time to hustle in order to make the rent, she doesn’t have the luxury of picking and choosing her gigs. She has just finished a string of bookings, all from the same group of private school moms wanting photos of their children taken in all of the most beautiful areas in the city, and she couldn’t exactly turn any of them down without disappointing them all so that resulted in a twelve-day long work stretch that has her absolutely exhausted.

She takes and removes the clear wrapping that’s still on the copy of _Firelight: Heart._ It’s been sitting on her TV stand next to the game console since she brought it home that first night. She turns the game console on and slides the disk into the drive. While she waits for the system to boot up, she walks to the kitchenette in the small studio apartment and pulls a can of soda from the refrigerator. She snaps the can open with a loud pop and takes a drink before sauntering back over to the futon as she continues sipping on her drink, and takes a seat. She trades her can of soda for the game controller that’s sitting on the coffee table and scrolls through the notifications on the screen. She finds some messages from her best friend Ruby and rolls her eyes at one particular one where she’s bragging about getting a gold trophy for a particularly difficult task in one of the games they’ve been playing together. 

She continues through the message inbox and once everything is read, she exits to find that there is a friend request that is pending approval. Curious as to whom it may be, she clicks it and is surprised to find that it is a request from the user ‘PrinceHenrythe1st’. “Oh, shit…” she mutters to herself as she quickly accepts the request. Once added to her friends list, she can see that Henry is currently online so she quickly types a message to the boy.

_ TheUglyDuckling: Hey Henry! _

She watches as her sent message shows as read, and then waits for a message in return. It comes through almost immediately.

_ PrinceHenrythe1st: Emma!  _

She sees that Henry is still typing and knows that it takes a while to get a message across through the on-screen keyboard, so she waits until he finishes his thought.

_ PrinceHenrythe1st: My mom said that you wouldn’t accept my request because you probably don’t want to play the game with me. _

She is hit with a sudden wave of guilt and it makes her wish that she would’ve signed onto her console sooner.

_ TheUglyDuckling: Sorry, buddy. I’ve just been super busy with work. I haven’t even played Firelight at all since I got it. And I still need you to help me unlock the cool scenes. I promise. _

Emma waits for a message but nothing else comes through. She sighs inwardly, still feeling terrible that she missed a friend request from Henry that evidently, after checking the timestamp on the message again, came through that same night she met him for the very first time. “Emma Swan, you’re such an asshole.” She reminds herself.

Just as Emma is about to leave the chat box and start her game, an invite from Henry for a voice call pops up on her screen. She quickly pushes herself off of the futon and walks around the coffee table to pull her gaming headset off of its charger and puts it on before sitting back down and hitting the button to accept the call. “Hey, Henry!” She says enthusiastically into her mic.

“Miss Swan?” Regina says into her son’s headset, feeling completely ridiculous for having it on in the first place. But when Henry came running into her study, screaming with excitement about how Emma had finally accepted his request to be friends in that god-awful zombie game that she could only force herself to sit through a few minutes of, she had to be sure of who he was chatting with. And when Henry asked for permission to do a voice call, she agreed only if he’d allow her to confirm that it was, in fact, Emma on the other end of the call. “Is this Emma Swan?” 

“Uh… yes, ma’am… This is Emma Swan.” Emma replies awkwardly, realizing that it’s Henry’s mother and not actually Henry on the other end of the call. There’s an uncomfortable silence so she decides to speak up again. “Uh, hi… I’m sorry that it took me so long to approve Henry’s request. I work a lot and I haven’t had time to even turn on my game console until today, and I hope that--”

Regina doesn’t necessarily recognize the woman’s voice but she certainly remembers the rambling. “It’s quite alright, Miss Swan. There’s no need to explain yourself. Henry understands that adults are busy with life and other things that are far more important than video games. He’s just very glad that you’ve reconnected with him. He’s been telling everyone that will listen about you, and what you did for him.”

“Ugh, well now I really feel like a jerk… And, I hope that it’s alright with you if I try to make up for some lost time with him this weekend. Please just let me know how long Henry is allowed to be online and I can help to make sure that he’s sticking to the rules. The last thing I want is to put you in a difficult situation.” 

Regina is surprised by Emma’s thoughtfulness. “That’s very kind of you, Miss Swan. Henry has finished all of his homework for the weekend so I’m not opposed to him spending it doing the things he enjoys, but I would also love to spend time with him, just the two of us, so why don’t we limit it to three hours each day? Is that reasonable?”

Emma chuckles at the formality of their conversation. Being called ‘Miss Swan’ reminds her of one of the social workers that she’d have to talk to every time she was forced to switch foster homes. “Please just call me Emma, and… So, I feel terribly rude, but I never asked you your name, and I should probably have asked that first night…” 

Regina also realizes the truth in Emma’s admission and feels equally, if not more impolite than the blonde does. “Oh, no, I’m the one that’s terribly rude. I should have introduced myself when you did! I’m Regina.”

Emma smiles at the sound of the pretty name. She thinks that it somehow really suits the woman, even though she barely knows her. Then she finds herself wondering if it really is just the two of them, her and Henry. She can’t remember Henry mentioning his father, nor has Regina mentioned a husband, and before she goes down a rabbit hole of speculation, she pushes those thoughts away. “Well, Regina, it’s very nice to officially meet you.”

Regina finds herself smiling into the microphone and she’s not sure why. She doesn’t actually realize that she’s absentmindedly doing so until she feels Henry tugging on the ends of her skirt. She looks down at him and can’t help smiling at how eager and happy he is to have made a new friend. “Well, Emma, it seems that if I don’t hand you over to Henry soon, his little body might just explode, so this is where I say that you two should have fun being zombie slayers. And thank you again.” She adds this, not really wanting to explain how much it means to her that Emma is indulging her son, especially with him standing right beside her, but hopes that the sincerity can be heard in her voice. Before Emma can respond to her, she removes the headset and hands it back to Henry who puts it on quickly.

The headset is big on Henry’s small head but it works as intended. It sounds like Emma is in the middle of speaking, probably responding to his mother, but he ignores whatever it is she is saying. “Hey Emma! Can we link games now? Are you ready to play? Gabby and I have almost beat the second boss, but I’ll start a new game with you, okay?”

Emma laughs. “Yeah, kid. Let’s play.” 

  
  


***

  
  


For months, Emma makes it a point to carve out a bit of her video game time to meet Henry online to play _ Firelight _ . She isn’t sure what she thought would come of their budding friendship, but the last thing she is expecting is a dinner invitation from Regina.

“Emma? Are you still there?” Regina asks as she taps on the microphone that’s protruding from the gaming headset, wondering if it had somehow stopped working just as she got to the most important part of their conversation.

“Uh… yeah, I’m still here. Sorry about that. So, you were saying something about dinner?” Emma asks, just in case she had misheard Regina the first time.

“Yes. Tomorrow night. Henry has requested that we invite you over to have dinner with us. If you’re not too busy or have other plans, that is. No pressure at all.” Regina doesn’t want Emma to think that she is obliged to agree because of Henry. She has done so much for him already, simply by spending time with him.

“WE’RE MAKING HOMEMADE RAVIOLI, EMMA!” Henry yells which earns him a stern glare from his mother. “Momma, tell her we’re making homemade ravioli…” he pleads, this time with his indoor-voice.

Emma hears exactly what a very enthusiastic Henry is shouting in the background and smiles to herself. “So, homemade ravioli, huh?” 

Regina chuckles at Emma’s playful tone. “Yes. We are making ravioli and there will be apple pie for dessert.”

“Well, I do happen to love both of those things…” And Emma does actually think that spending time with Henry in person will be a lot of fun. She’s learned over the last few weekends that he’s as witty and hilarious as he is downright adorable. She can tell that he’s a shy kid, but he’s also wicked smart. And getting to know his mother might just be an added bonus. Regina is still a complete enigma to her. Emma generally only mentions Regina to Henry when it’s time for him to sign off so the mother and son can spend time together, but Henry tends to talk about her a lot. Which is why even though she hasn’t yet been able to confirm outright that it is just the two of them, the fact that Henry hasn’t once mentioned another parental figure in his life tells her that it’s probably the case. Everything he says or does revolves around his mother. It’s sweet, and really endearing. And she’d be lying if she told herself she didn’t find the single mother to be absolutely intriguing. The fact that Regina is also strikingly beautiful only adds to her curiosity.

“So… does that mean that we should set an extra place setting then?” Regina asks finally. She doesn’t want to seem too overzealous with her invitation, but the truth is, she’s been wanting to properly thank Emma for everything she’s done for Henry. Her son has really taken a liking to the blonde, and she can’t remember the last time Henry’s been drawn to any adult, aside from herself, in that way. It doesn’t feel so long ago that she was just Henry’s foster mother, and even right after the adoption was finalized, Henry seemed so uncertain and unsure of her intention to keep him in her life forever. 

“Yeah. I’d love to come over for dinner.” Emma says and finds that she is smiling from ear to ear. “So, is there anything that I can bring? Ice cream maybe? You know, for the pie?”

“I think that I get a better idea of why Henry adores you so much every time I’ve the pleasure to speak with you, Emma Swan.” Regina says, unable to keep from smiling into the microphone.

Emma laughs at Regina’s comment. “So, ice cream it is, then. I can just send you my phone number through the chat box and you can text me your address and the details for dinner?” 

“That would work just fine. Now, I’m going to give you back to Henry so you two can go on whatever adventure you have planned for the evening. He’s to be finished by nine so that he can get ready for bed.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Emma agrees, and finds that she is a bit sad that her conversation with Regina has come to its end.

“Have a good evening, Emma. I will see you tomorrow.” Regina hands the headset back to a beaming Henry before leaning down to give him a kiss on his temple. “I love you. Nine o’ clock, young man, and then I want you to get ready for bed. I’ll be in my bedroom reading if you need anything, alright?”

“Okay, Momma.” Henry agrees as he slips the headset over his head again.

“Oh, and Darling, Emma is going to send her phone number. Can you write it down and bring it to me when you’re finished playing?”

“I will, Momma.” 

“Okay, have fun.” Regina watches as the opening scene to the game starts and Henry is already animatedly chatting with Emma about whatever it is that they have to accomplish for tonight’s gameplay. She smiles serenely at him once again and then turns and makes her way upstairs to the bedroom.

***

Emma clears her throat nervously and straightens herself before she reaches out for the doorbell. She would not be this nervous right now if it weren’t for Ruby. Her best friend has spent a lot of the last twenty-four hours teasing her about the dinner invitation and how ridiculous it is that Emma could meet beautiful women anywhere, evidently even in video game shops. She mentally squashes Ruby’s conjectures by reminding herself that this was only a casual dinner and that Regina wouldn’t be interested in her even if she may feel drawn to the brunette, a feeling which she has yet to confirm or deny to neither herself nor to Ruby.

Henry swings the door open within seconds of hearing the doorbell ring. “Emma!” he squeals the moment he sees the woman. “Come in, come in!” He adds as he reaches for her arm to pull her into the small foyer of the enormous house.

As Emma takes in her surroundings, she can’t help but stare in awe at the inside of the beautiful home. Her apartment looked like it could be a tool shed sitting in the parking lot of Lowe’s compared to this place. “I know you call yourself Prince Henry, but you didn’t mention that you actually lived in a palace.”

“What are you talking about? This is a house.” Henry says with a confused scrunch of his nose. 

Emma laughs that her joke has obviously soared way above Henry’s head. “Nevermind, kid. Hey, help me with this, will ya?” She hands him the reusable grocery bag she has in her hand and he takes it, holding it up with both hands. 

“Who are the flowers for?” Henry asks as he motions to what Emma is still carrying in her other hand.

“Oh, they’re for--”

“Do you two need some help?” Regina had just started cleaning up the mess from all the pasta and flour when they heard the doorbell ring. Henry, in all of his excitement, takes off to answer the door leaving her to finish up on her own. Once she has her kitchen in order, and she’s cleaned her hands again, she makes her way towards where Emma and her son are standing in the main entry.

“Oh…” is all Emma can manage as she looks up to focus on the brunette that’s walking towards them. She remembers Regina being beautiful, but she didn’t expect that seeing her again would short-circuit her brain. Regina is wearing a royal blue dress, her hair and makeup look flawless, and the entire ensemble down to her pointy, black pumps makes Emma suddenly feel very self-conscious and underdressed. “Hi.” 

“Hello, Emma. Welcome to our home.” Regina says with a smile. The way that Emma is looking at her makes her feel a bit warm in the cheeks but she keeps her composure as she reaches for the bag that Henry is holding. It seems a bit heavy for just a gallon of ice cream so she peeks into it and sees that there is also a bottle of wine in the bag.

“Oh, I also brought wine. My friend Ruby helped me pick that out. She said that it would go well with the ravioli. If you even drink, that is. I probably should have asked you first, but I brought it just in case...” And as she is stumbling over her words, Emma nearly stumbles over her own two feet. Luckily for her, Regina steps forward and catches her before she can do any damage to herself, or worse, to her ego. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz sometimes.” She manages to compose herself and when she looks up at last, she immediately locks her eyes with Regina’s.  _ Fuck, she’s beautiful. _ “Uh, these are for you.” Emma lifts the beautiful bouquet of sunflowers and roses into the space between them, glad for the little bit of distance they put there. 

“Wow. Thank you. These are beautiful.” Regina says genuinely as she takes the flowers from Emma and smiles at her. “But you really didn’t have to bring anything.”

“I wanted to thank you for inviting me to dinner. I saw those at the farmers market this morning and for whatever reason, I thought that you would like them.”

“My mom loves sunflowers!” Henry exclaims. “Right, Momma?”

“I do, Darling.” Regina confirms with an endearing pinch of Henry’s chin before turning her attention back to Emma again. “I love them, really. I’ll take these to the kitchen and put them in some water. Dinner's almost ready, but while I finish everything up, I’ll let Henry give you a tour of the house. I think he wants to show you where he plays his game and take you to his bedroom, too. Just bring Emma back to the dining room once you’re finished okay, Henry?” 

“I will. Now, c’mon, Emma.” Henry takes her by the arm and all but drags her towards the opposite side of the house. “I want to show you all my drawings before dinner.”

Emma follows Henry through the main rooms of the house, with Henry showing her the living room where his video games are, then Regina’s study where he does his homework, and finally up the main staircase in the house to where his bedroom is. Henry shows her his most recent drawings of zombies and even gives her a drawing he made of her character from the game. “Awww, Henry, I love this! It looks just like her. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Henry says with a big beaming smile. 

Emma playfully fluffs his hair and it makes her heart swell when his smile grows bigger than it was just a moment ago. She’s about to ask him to show her more drawings when she notices the picture that’s sitting on his nightstand. She picks up the picture frame and sees that in the photograph there’s a beaming younger Henry in Regina’s arms and they both look so happy.

“That’s the day we became a real family…” Henry says softly. He is still getting used to the idea of talking about his adoption. His mom tells him that it doesn’t matter what people think, and that he can decide what he tells people. He isn’t sure why, but he wanted to tell Emma and he knows that he can trust her.

Emma understands Henry immediately. Only foster kids make that particular distinction and she can definitely relate. She sees Henry eyeing her with uncertainty and she knows right away that she wants to be someone that Henry can talk to if he needs her. “That’s pretty cool, kid. You know, I’m adopted, too.” And when she sees Henry’s face light up, she knows that it was the right thing to say.

“Really?!” Henry asks incredulously. 

“Yeah. I was a bit older than you are now. I was fifteen when I finally got adopted, and I was in the foster system for a long time.” Emma hates thinking about the past, but if it’s something that will put Henry’s heart and mind at ease, she’d gladly rehash all of it.

“I can’t wait to tell my mom!” Henry says as he jumps off his bed and heads for the door. “C’mon, let’s go!”

Emma follows Henry back down the hall and towards the main staircase. She watches as he scurries to the bottom of the stairs and stands to wait for her to meet him. Then she lets him take her hand and walk him to where the dining room table is already mostly set. 

Regina is opening the bottle of wine that Emma brought over and smiles at the pair when they enter the room. “How was the tour?” 

“Momma, guess what?” Henry asks as he walks over to his mother, hugging her tightly from behind.

“What’s that, Darling?” Regina questions as she looks over at Emma and smiles. 

“Emma is adopted, too.” 

Not expecting that Henry would skip right to the highlight of their previous conversation, Emma tenses at the abrupt statement. 

Regina’ widens her eyes in surprise, wondering how this could even have come up as a topic of conversation in the short twenty minutes they had to walk around the house. She looks over at Emma who is smiling awkwardly at her. “Oh?” is all she can manage to say before Henry is speaking up again. 

“Isn’t that cool? I don’t know anyone else that is adopted.” Henry says as he hugs his mom even tighter.

“Oh, Henry…” Regina turns her body so that she can wrap her arm around Henry’s shoulder giving him a reassuring squeeze, but instead of looking at him, she turns her attention back to Emma and smiles again. “We both knew there was something special about Emma, didn’t we? Now, go grab the silverware and help me finish setting the table. Emma, would you like a glass of wine?” 

Emma releases the breath she’s holding and feels like she can relax again. She smiles also, hoping that Regina can see how grateful she is for her comment, and just nods emphatically. “Absolutely.”

***

Dinner turns out to be more delightful than Emma expects. Regina’s cooking is amazing and she can’t remember the last time she had so much fun just having a conversation over dinner. She learns that Henry not only loves video games, but he also loves soccer and comic books, and those are just two other things that they seem to have in common. Regina works for a publishing house and since adopting Henry, they’ve allowed her to work on an independent contract basis just so she can spend more time at home. They talk about her photography and she promises that Henry will get his own photoshoot sometime in the near future.

After dinner, dessert, and a long debate on whether the DC Superheroes or the Marvel Avengers would be the victors of an all out superhero battle, Regina tells Henry that he needs to get ready for bed. He reluctantly does as he’s told but not before running up to Emma for a goodbye hug. “Whoa, buddy!” She says with a chuckle but hugs him back just as tightly. “That was fun, huh? Thank you again for the dinner invitation.”

“Can you come over every Saturday?” Henry asks seriously hoping that Emma will agree.

Emma laughs and looks up at Regina who only smiles and shrugs, which is no help to her at all. “I work on some Saturdays, remember? But if you invite me again, I will definitely try to come over. You and your mom cook such good food. I would never say no to that.”

“Okay.” Henry says, satisfied with the answer he gets. 

“Go on upstairs and get ready, Darling. I’ll be up there in a little bit to tuck you in, alright?” Regina says as she rubs lovingly on his back. He nods and she and Emma watch as he makes his way up the stairs towards his bedroom. “So, Emma…” Regina wants to ask her if she will stay for a nightcap. They’ve only had one glass of wine each with dinner and they do still have the rest of the bottle to finish if they wanted to, but Emma did come over to spend time with Henry and now that he’s going to bed, she’s sure that Emma is probably ready to head back home. She’s not able to ask, however, because Emma interrupts her thought.

“Um… so, why don’t I go clean up the dining room and get the dishes cleaned while you tuck Henry into bed.” For the last few minutes, Emma has been trying so hard to come up with any reason to stay just so she can spend more time with Regina and that was really the only thing she could think of and she finds that it sounds even more lame coming out of her mouth than it did in her head.

Regina is surprised by Emma’s suggestion and scoffs in response.. “Emma, that’s ridiculous. You’re our guest. You most certainly will not be cleaning, nor doing the dishes.” 

“Oh, c’mon. According to Henry, I’m practically family. He just invited me to dinner every Saturday! And you, lady, did not even bat an eyelash at that!” 

“What can I say? I love my son.” Regina says this with a genuine smile and it brings an equally brilliant smile to the blonde woman’s face. She stands there for a moment and just stares into Emma’s hazel-green eyes. She realizes very quickly that she is not likely to win this battle. “Alright, I’m not going to fight you on this, but just know that you are so very lucky Henry likes you so much.”

Emma laughs at this and quickly shoos the woman away before she heads back into the dining area to clean up. She sets the two wine glasses aside secretly hoping that Regina might want to have another drink with her after Henry is in bed, but cleans everything else up. She is just finishing up when Regina appears in the kitchen again. 

Regina walks over to where the vase of sunflowers and roses are sitting on her counter and leans in to take in the scent. She sees Emma looking at her as she peeks up from the floral arrangement and moves them to the side so that she can get a full view of the woman. “Thank you again for the flowers. They really are lovely. And for cleaning up. Henry can’t stop talking about what a good time he had tonight.” 

“I should be thanking you…” Emma says honestly. “I can’t remember the last time I had such a good night. Actually, do you want to maybe…” She tilts her head towards the opposite side of the kitchen island where the two glasses and the half finished bottle of wine is still sitting. 

Regina looks over, sees the wine, then turns back towards Emma and squints her eyes at her. She bites down on her lower lip in contemplation, trying not to seem too eager. “I think that it would be a crime to not finish it. Ruby did such a good job picking that one out.” She finally says with a grin.

“Oh god, if you ever meet Ruby, please don’t tell her that. She’s already got a pretty inflated head.” Emma walks around the island and takes Regina’s glass, filling that one first and sliding it over towards her. Then she fills her own and evenly splits whatever’s left in the bottle between the two glasses. “But, you’re not wrong. It is really good wine.” She says this as she smiles into a sip. 

“Do you want to take this outside onto the deck? It’s a nice night.” Regina suggests as she starts walking towards the patio doors.

Emma doesn’t respond nor argue, but follows Regina. They walk onto the deck and when Regina takes a seat on the patio sofa and lightly pats the spot next to her, she walks over and takes a seat next to the brunette. “You have such a beautiful home. I’m still completely blown away by it.” 

“It’s the house I grew up in. My parents’ house. They left it to me.” Regina confesses. “I do have to admit that raising Henry in this house is something that I didn’t think I was going to be very fond of. But we are making our own memories.”

Emma feels like there’s a story there, but doesn’t want to pry. “Henry is such a good kid. You’re doing really good with him.”

“I’m trying to. It’s so difficult sometimes. Being a single parent. I wonder to myself if he would have been better off in a home with both a mom and a dad.”

“Nah. I’m going to let you in on a little foster kid secret. We know when we’re loved. It’s not that hard to spot and I know that Henry knows, because all those weekends we’ve played together, he not once referred to you as anything other than his mom. He loves you.”

Regina smiles gratefully at Emma and wonders if the blonde can relate to Henry that way, if she feels loved by her adoptive parents. But she didn’t want the conversation to get any heavier than it already is. “I never really got to properly thank you. Dinner was Henry’s gift to you, it was honestly his idea, but I really should find a way to thank you for what you did for him. For trading the game, for becoming his friend, and for coming over for dinner tonight…”

“Regina, I didn’t even have to think that hard about it. There was zero hesitation on my part when I saw you and Henry trying to exchange your game for the one you actually ordered. I know that it’s just a video game to me, but to kids like Henry, it’s more than that. And I gained a video game buddy out of it, so really, I’m the lucky one here.” Then Emma chuckles to herself thinking about everything again.

“What’s so funny?” Regina asks curiously.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about how I’m literally the  _ Heart _ to his  _ Soul.  _ Or, he’s the  _ Soul _ to my  _ Heart _ . Get it?  _ Firelight: Heart _ and  _ Firelight: Soul _ ?” Saying it aloud makes her laugh again. “It’s cheesy, but sweet, right?”

Regina laughs also this time, but only because of how adorable Emma is when she is laughing at her own jokes. “So, tell me Emma, what do you like to do outside of photography and video games?” Regina asks with a playful smirk as she brings her wine glass to her lips again, ready for another sip. 

“Well…” Emma laughs nervously because she can’t really think of anything to say that would not make her seem like the lamest person Regina’s ever met. “Honestly, that’s really about it. I hang out with Ruby when we both manage to find the time for it, but even then, we’re usually gaming. And before you say anything, I know that I have to find other hobbies. Or a girlfriend, I guess. Ruby always says that I would be a lot less boring if I had a girlfriend…” She trails off when she sees Regina eyeing her lightheartedly. “What?”

Regina shakes her head but can’t stop grinning. She had an inkling that Emma might also be interested in women by the way she was looking at her at the beginning of their evening but didn’t want to make any assumptions. The blonde’s last remark, however, confirms her suspicions. “Nothing. It’s just that, finding a girlfriend isn’t really a good way to make you less boring. Girlfriends tend to make you even more boring, at least they have in my experience.”

Emma chokes on her wine when she hears Regina’s response and is suddenly coughing uncontrollably. Regina takes her glass from her and places them both on the table in front of them before she leans over and begins rubbing her back softly. Emma is sure that it’s supposed to calm her, but their close proximity to each other only makes her heart race even faster. Once her airway seems to be clear once again, she takes a deep breath. “Yikes, I think that is enough wine for me. And it’s getting pretty late anyway...”

Regina frowns and thinks that her previous statement must have spooked Emma and immediately regrets that she said anything at all. “Oh, do you need to go? I’m sorry if I’ve kept you too long.”

Emma shakes her head vehemently. “No, not at all. I can probably sit here and talk with you all night, which is really why I should probably go…”

Regina just nods, but is unsure of how to interpret what Emma just said. She stands up and straightens the front of her dress and when Emma gets up as well, she grabs both the wine glasses and motions toward the door to go back into the house. “Well, shall we?”

Emma nods and follows Regina back into the house.  _ God, Emma Swan, you are such an idiot _ . 

Regina puts both of the glasses in the sink, turns to take the folded reusable bag that Emma brought over from the counter behind her, and then walks it back to where Emma is standing. “Here you go. Thank you for the wine. And for the ice cream.” 

“Thanks for dinner.” Emma says for the thousandth time that night, and there is an awkward silence and tension between them that she wishes would just go away.

“Let me walk you out.” Regina says at last, and when Emma nods, they both walk in silence towards the front door.

***

“Rubes, I’m telling you, it was so bad. I choked. Literally, and figuratively choked.” Emma is replaying Saturday night over and over in her head and she can’t seem to forgive herself for how everything turned out. She really wishes that she could just do it all over.

“Okay, so you were a little bit awkward. Since when are you not? Just go over there and tell the pretty woman that you were an idiot and sweep her off her feet like you do with all the others.” Ruby has had this conversation more than once with Emma. She always seems to find herself in a jam with the women she falls for, but somehow always manages to use her charm to fix any uneasiness between them soon after. 

Emma sighs and just shakes her head. “It’s not that simple. I have to think about Henry. Regina is off limits… She has to be.” 

Ruby rolls her eyes as she listens. She can almost hear the thoughts in her best friend’s head. “Okay, reality check, Chica. You think that Regina doesn’t already have Henry’s best interest in mind? She’s his mother, and she will never put you before she puts that boy, Em. The only ball you have in your court is the one where you can clear the air between the two of you. Especially if you know that you will have to see each other again because of Henry.”

“You’re right. I’m being so stupid about this. I should just go over there. Henry made me this drawing and I accidentally left it, so I can always use that as an excuse to stop by tomorrow while Henry is at school.” Emma is already thinking about what she will say to Regina, how she can possibly explain why she left in such a hurry when she actually wanted to stay for as long as she was welcome to. “I just… I like her…” 

Ruby chuckles at the admission. “Yeah, I know you do, Em. I can always tell before you do. You haven’t really talked to anyone since your breakup with Liv. Maybe it’s time you started dating.”

“But Rubes--”

“I’m not saying ‘go date Regina’. I’m saying to go on dates in general. But, don’t close yourself off and shut down every possibility, and that’s including this thing with Regina. That’s just self-sabotage, which you are damn good at, my friend.” Ruby says this sincerely. She’s known Emma for a long time. They were in the same group home for a while as teens and if it weren’t for Emma, she’d still be that girl constantly stuck in her own bad way. If this is her only way of paying it back, she’d gladly spend her life doing so.

“I love you, Rubes.” Emma says with a content sigh. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

“Good thing, you won’t ever have to know that.” Ruby replies with a cheeky grin.

***

“Emma?” Regina says in confusion as she opens her door to find the blonde on the other side of it. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. I, um… Henry made me a drawing, and I left it here the other night…”

“Oh. Yes. He put it in the study. He thought that maybe he would remind you to take it if you came over for dinner this Saturday.” Regina opens the door a bit wider and steps back so that Emma can come into the house. 

Emma smiles about Henry’s insistence on their Saturday night dinners but doesn’t dare put too much hope into receiving an official invitation. “I didn’t want him to think that I left it on purpose because I love it. I just forgot to grab it on my way out.”

Regina just nods. She wants to make a remark about how Emma seemed to be in such a hurry to leave, but decides against it. She’s been going over their last conversation in her head and still feels awful that she may have been the reason that Emma felt the need to flee. She shuts and locks the door behind Emma and walks towards her study, only turning around once to make sure Emma is following her. “So, you’re not working today?”

“No. I don’t have anything booked until later in the week.” Emma replies. 

“That sounds nice.” Regina says with a quick smile. She is able to find the drawing quickly as she had glanced at it again this morning and knew exactly where Henry had left it. Once she has it in her hands, she turns towards Emma and reaches out to hand it over to her. “Here you go. I’ll let Henry know you stopped by for it. He’ll probably be a bit upset that you didn’t stop by while he’s here…”

“Well, actually…” Emma pauses, as she’s looking down at the drawing in her hands, and tries to find the right words, but when she looks up and sees Regina looking at her and waiting for her to continue, she feels like a puddle again. “I wanted to stop by now as opposed to after school hours because I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh.” Regina says as she furrows her brow in anticipation for what Emma has to say to her. “Everything is  _ alright _ , right?”

“Well, yes. And no. I had a wonderful time on Saturday. I really love spending time with Henry…” Regina doesn’t say anything in response so Emma continues. “And, I really love spending time with you. But--”

“Emma, look, whatever it is that I said the other night that made you so uncomfortable, I’m so very sorry for it. I know that you are going to be in our lives because Henry has found you to be quite the companion, not just because of the video games, but because of other very important aspects of his life, and I do not want to be the reason that Henry doesn’t get to see you.” 

“Whoa. Okay, hold on.” She places Henry’s drawing on the closest piece of furniture within her reach, which happens to be a side table next to Regina’s reading chair, and takes a step closer to the woman. She wants to reach out, grab the woman, and shake her. How could she think for one minute that whatever awkwardness they ended their Saturday evening with had anything to do with herself. “I came here to apologize to  _ you  _ and you are trying to steal my thunder.”

“What do you have to apologize to me for?” Regina asks, as she is sincerely confused now.

“I don’t know. For freaking out?” Emma sighs and takes another step closer to Regina, this time completely invading her personal space. When Regina doesn’t move nor back away, she reaches one hand up and slowly brushes at Regina’s cheek with her fingertips. 

Regina instinctively leans into Emma’s touch as she feels the sparks of electricity coming to life between them. She closes her eyes for just a moment and when she opens them again, Emma’s eyes, a bit darker in green than they were the other night, are looking intently at her. “Emma…”

“Regina, I don’t want you to think that the only reason I came over for dinner on Saturday was because of Henry. The truth is, I do like Henry. I like him a lot. But, I also like you a lot. And I think that was what freaked me out the other night. Me realizing all of that.” Emma tries to smile because she’s relieved that everything is now out in the open. She just hopes that her honesty will actually set her free, as they say. At the very least, free from all the guilt that she’s been feeling for the last thirty-six hours. 

Regina isn’t sure if it is what Emma says to her that gives her the courage, but she leans forward then and touches her lips lightly to the other woman’s. Emma doesn’t seem to hesitate and is immediately deepening their kiss. Regina finds herself not only reassured, but she catches herself smiling into the blonde’s lips. When they slowly end their kiss, she pulls away to see that Emma is smiling at her. 

Emma boldly wraps her arms around Regina’s waist and pulls her in a bit tighter. Regina gasps in surprise but doesn’t seem to mind their closeness. “So, I take it that you kinda like me, too?” She asks with a lighthearted chuckle.

Regina throws her head back and lets out a hearty laugh. “I think that’s probably a safe presumption.” She says when she’s looking into Emma’s eyes once again.

“So, I’m hoping this means that I’m now officially invited to all the Saturday dinners…”

Regina laughs again. “I wasn’t joking when I told you that isn’t really up to me. The little prince usually makes the guest list. I’m just manual labor. But, if you manage to stay on my good side, I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you.” 

“Ah, man. See, I was hoping it was the other way around. You know, stay on  _ his  _ good side so he can put in a good word for me with you…”

Regina smiles at the thought of having Emma come around more. She wonders to herself about how serendipitous their first encounter was, and how something as simple as a video game could bring three people together in the most extraordinary way. She’s never been one to put much emphasis on fate or coincidence, but even she has to admit that meeting Emma Swan has opened her eyes to new possibilities. That thought warms her insides, and she instantly feels the need to be close to Emma again. She leans in for another kiss and there is no resistance on Emma’s part. It’s slow, and sweet, and this time, Emma’s the one smiling into their kiss. A smile that Regina suddenly never wants to see leave the blonde woman’s face. Maybe Emma was right afterall, she is exactly the heart that both hers and Henry’s souls needed. 


End file.
